Circus Trip 2018: Shelburne Museum

Day 48 & 49, Saturday & Sunday, September 1 & 2, 2018
Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont

September brought a new state under my belt – Vermont!  I had crossed the border the evening before, and booked a few nights at the Lake Bomoseen KOA for the Labor Day Weekend.  It was a great place to stay, with large wooded campsites, a lake to fish in, a little movie theater, game room and store.

 

Lake Bomoseen

The next morning it was time to visit a museum that I was super-excited about – The Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont.  The museum was founded in 1947 by Electra Havemeyer Webb, a wealthy collector of American folk art.  In addition to collecting art pieces, she also undertook to collect 18th and 19th century buildings to house the collection, including houses, barns, a schoolhouse, a lighthouse, a jail, a general store, a covered bridge, and even a 220 foot long steamboat!

I wandered from building to building checking everything out, and thoroughly enjoyed everything I saw.  The steamboat Ticonderoga was incredible; moved here after plying the waters of Lake Champlain.  I would have loved to be a passenger on that ship! The lighthouse was cool, the unusual two lane covered bridge was fun to see, and the round barn was fascinating.

The Steamship Ticonderoga

The Lighthouse

Sawmill waterwheel

Two lane Covered Bridge

Historic home

Schoolhouse

Barn

Smokehouse

Carousel

Round Barn

The collection currently contains over 150,000 paintings, folk art, textiles, quilts, furniture and other types of art not commonly seen in museums.  There are entire rooms of duck decoys, farm implements, dioramas, automatons, and other interesting folk art!

Hooked rug runner

This bench rocked!

Folk art sign

Miniature room

Miniature kitchen

Spinning wheel

Glass canes

Carved birds

Stagecoach

The museum is huge, with over 39 buildings total to explore.  The $25 admission is admittedly a bit steep, but they do give you a two day entry for that price, and if you have the time, there would absolutely be enough to keep you busy for two days!

The next day, I had a quiet day at the campground.  I blogged, read, took a walk and even watched a movie.  I also met Bill and Jean, a kind retired couple who were raising their three grandchildren.  They invited me over for dinner and conversation.

Enjoy the photos!

Travel Bucket List

COVID has given me a far amount of time to fantasize about retirement and the things I want to do once I get there. And mind you, I’m not planning to wait until I’m 65! I’ve been coming up with my bucket list… Some of these might not have to wait until I’m retired, but some are harder to do in a standard two week vacation slot, especially if you want to take the time.  Here are some of mine (in no particular order)!

1. Drive US Highway 20 from coast to coast
2. Drive Route 66 from start to end
3. Take a river cruise through the wine country of Europe
4. Visit the Galapagos Islands and Easter Island
5. Take an Antarctic cruise
6. See the Grizzly bears at Katmai National Park
7. See the Northern lights in Europe (or maybe Alaska)
8. Visit Machu Picchu in Peru
9. See the Great Wall of China
10. Visit Petra in Jordan
11. See the Churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia
12. See the Egyptian Pyramids
13. Visit Cappadocia in Turkey and take a balloon ride
14. Visit Auschwitz in Poland
15. Go backpacking
16. Do a multi-day trip on the White Rim Road in Canyonlands National Park
17. See the night skies at Chaco Culture National Historic Park
18. Do an African photo safari
19. Hike in New Zealand
20. Camp and snorkel at Dry Tortugas National Park

The Treasury Building at Petra (photo from Wikipedia)

What’s on your bucket list?  Have you been fantasizing about travel during COVID-times?

 

 

COVID Diaries: Day 207

Last weekend I got to have what was probably the last the last hurrah of mountain hiking before the pass closes, the snow falls and I am confined to the lowlands until next year’s season.

Audrey, Jena and I spent a fabulous day hike at Blue Lake, a spectacular out and back hike with views of the larches. Larches are one of the only types of conifers that lose their needles in the winter, so they give a beautiful fall color show. Blue Lake did not disappoint – it certainly deserves its own post!

We stayed the night in Winthrop, one of Washington’s small mountain theme towns. We poked around and enjoyed the warm, sunny weather, and laughed more than I have in a while. Good girlfriends soothe the soul.

This weekend has been quiet – just yard work and housework. There’s always a project or two at home that I should be doing!

Circus Trip 2018: Saratoga National Historical Park

Day 47, Friday, August 31, 2018

Saratoga National Historical Park, Saratoga Springs, New York

Saratoga National Historical Park was designated in 1938 to preserve the site of the Battles of Saratoga, the first significant campaign of the U.S. Revolutionary War.  Fought in 1777, this series of battles defeated a major British Army, and resulted in France recognizing the independence of the United States of America.

 

British General John Burgoyne led his army south from Canada into what is now New York, with the intention to meet up with another British Army moving north from New York City and a third force marching east from Lake Ontario.  Unfortunately for Burgoyne, the other two armies never arrived and he was surrounded by American forces in upstate New York. He attempted to break out, fighting two different battles over the course of a few weeks in September and October 1777 on the ground several miles south of Saratoga, New York.  He did not succeed.

Burgoyne eventually retreated to Saratoga, which is now known as Schuylerville, and surrendered his entire army there on October 17, 1777.  After Saratoga, Burgoyne returned to England and was never given another commanding position in the British Army.  The French entered into the war after Saratoga as well, sending not only money, but supplies and soldiers to support the cause.

When I visited, I started at the Visitor’s Center, checked out the exhibits and watched the film of the battle.  It was interesting to learn about it; as I haven’t read much on the Revolutionary War.

Then I did the scenic drive around the battlefield and saw it from various vantage points.  Informational signs explain how the battle unfolded.  It was so interesting to imagine what happened here in 1777.  It is so peaceful now, but it was anything but peaceful during those pivotal few weeks!

I also visited the General Philip Schuyler House, which is near the battlefield in the nearby town of Schuylerville.  Schuyler prepared the defensive plans for the Continental Army prior to the battle, but was replaced before the battle by General Horatio Gates.

The home was built in 1777, and is largely as it was when it was built.  The home has no electricity or indoor plumbing even!  It is owned by the historical park and is open in the summer, but it was closed when I visited, so I just took photos outside.  It’s such a cool house!

Visitation for Saratoga National Historical Park is about 65,000 annually, so even during their peak period in the summer, there really aren’t that many people there. I only saw a couple of people outside of the Visitor’s Center the entire time I was there. It was interesting to see!

COVID Diaries: Day 199

Well lookie there, we are almost at 200 days of this “new normal.” Blech.

I went clothes shopping in the new normal last night. Which consisted of me buying four pairs of jeans, taking them over to my friend’s house, which is closer to the store, trying them all on, and returning the other three to the store. Someone please tell me how this makes sense.

It has made for some quiet weekends and busy work weeks. I did have a great little day trip over to the island with a few girlfriends on the last weekend of summer. The boat ride was incredible, the weather was perfect, and we had fun poking around in shops and laughing so hard we cried. We even saw porpoises from the boat! Girlfriends are the best.

Then the weather turned to fall with a vengeance. High winds and heavy rain for several days. Fun. It did clear out the smoke though! In the last couple of days the smoke has closed in again, but not to the same degree. There’s hope that it will go away starting tomorrow. It irritates my eyes and my throat…

I’m definitely not ready for winter. With everything being so messed up this year, it feels like we shouldn’t even have to count it! We should get to skip winter and start in the spring! It seems like a good idea to me, but I doubt I’m going to be able to get this plan off the ground.

At least it is the weekend!